In the past couple of weeks, which have been rough on our family, I have just dreamed of getting away and thinking about other people's lives. Maybe my life would have been better if ... or if that thing would have happened ... It goes on and on. Then I wake up and realize that this is my life and I have obligations which I sometimes wish I didn't have. Maybe it would be nice to just forget my present life for a while and try something else.

Maybe going to Washington D.C., where I have never been. Maybe right now with the government shut down, it isn't the best place to go. My Uncle Alvin, my mother's brother, is going to see the World War II Memorial this Tuesday and is very excited about going. I would love to go there to see all of the history, the buildings, the documents, the house chambers and even the White House. That would be so nice.

Another wonderful place I would love to go and have never been is Niagara Falls. It has its own city name in the state of New York. It has been a tourist attraction for over 200 years. Everyone has heard of it the northern portion of it in Canada and the southern portion in the United States. In 1804 a young man took his bride to the falls soon after they were married and began a honeymoon tradition.

I have also wondered how life would be so different, say being the only child. I don't have to share with anyone or listen to anyone else, especially their children or grandchildren. That would be so nice if I was the only child. Just thinking how it would be to be totally spoiled as the only child. But when this happens, that is not feasible at all. That is sometimes a good thing and at times it is not so good at all.

I have always wondered what kind of father I would be. Probably not a very good one. Just thinking that maybe God knows best and didn't want me to have kids. I know I don't know how my own children would turn on me, hate me, get mad at me and maybe kill me. That is what some children do. I would never know that feeling, maybe it is best that I do not know those things at all.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to have another career? You know I have been a bartender, a store clerk and a factory worker in my younger years and I didn't have to pursue my dream and be a writer. This happened because I was very persistent and received my degree at the age of 50. I just know everyone else does that so why can't this guy do the same thing? Opportunities come around all of the time.

Page 2 of 2 - If I had been persuaded by teachers when I was in junior high or high school, I would have been a teacher, but I wasn't and was not persuaded t to be. I even joined Future Teachers of America for my senior year and was told to check out another career for my own good. We will probably never know how good or bad I would have become. Maybe it is for the best, who knows?

I always wondered about being introverted. Having everything clamped hard inside and not letting anyone know my true feelings. That would have been wonderful. I do know I would not have been hurt as often as I have been in the past. When you tell people how you feel, they may take it the wrong way or even get mad at you and truly hurt you. That is how people feel at the opposite of introverted people.

I would also like to see no cancer, no deaths for nice people, no No. 1 television show, no ice skating on television, no football to watch, no Razorback football team to be upset with and even certain people for me to get upset with.

I do know one thing, when I see the angels another time, instead of asking them why are they here, I am going to ask them if I can go. They are probably going to a place that is far better what I have here on earth. No pain is where they are, that is for sure. I would ask going my way?